SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND IN FOR THE LONG HAUL IN HAITI

11th Hour Project Grants $500K to Rebuild Haiti With Renewable Energy; Climate Change Program Funds Solar Electrification for Partners in Health Clinics
April 29, 2010 (Ascribe Newswire)

"The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)…has [been] awarded SELF a $500,000 grant to support the solar electrification of seven health clinics for Partners In Health (PIH) in Haiti [by the 11th Hour Project]. The clinics, operated by Zanmi Lasante (ZL), are located in the remote mountain highlands of Haiti and do not have access to the electric grid. In the aftermath of the January earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the health care facilities have been increasingly vulnerable to the unstable supply of diesel fuel needed to operate their generators…

"As PIH moves from short-term relief efforts to long-term recovery and rebuilding work, finding sustainable ways to power hospitals has become a priority…SELF installed the first 10 kW hybrid diesel system for ZL at the Boucan Carre clinic in September 2009. In response to the recent disaster, PIH has asked SELF to accelerate the timeline to provide solar energy systems to the nine remaining PIH/ZL-run clinics in the program…"

SELF in Haiti is building solar power...(click to enlarge)

"The solar electrification projects will play a key role in PIH's three-year recovery and rebuilding plan. The plan includes, among other elements, continuing urgent medical and surgical care operations for earthquake survivors at the PIH/ZL facilities in the Central Plateau and Artibonite Departments; expanding capacity for specialty clinical services needed to care for earthquake survivors; and building and renovating public health infrastructure…

"To complete the solar installations for the first five of the nine remaining health clinics, SELF must raise approximately $1 million. A portion of this funding is coming from in-kind donations of solar panels, batteries and other system components…"

...to bring light to dark places. (click to enlarge)

{Richard LaRue, development director, SELF:] "We're nearly there, thanks in large measure to the 11th Hour Project. Its generous grant put us on the fast track for getting the equipment - much of which has been donated in an equally generous response from solar industry leaders - up and running sooner than any of us could have hoped."

[Amy Rao, president, The 11th Hour Project:] "Climate change causes a shortage of natural resources, which causes a shortage of food and water, and this affects the population…I'm an environmentalist because I am a humanitarian, and if we wait long enough, there will be no humanity left."